BRGM is a French Public Institution responsible for mobilizing the Earth Sciences in the sustainable management of natural resources: water, polluted sites and soils, and waste. The BRGM Environment and Processes Division:

• draws up methodological guides and technical standards in support of public policies ,
• develops decision-aid tools for authorities responsible for environmental issues
• develops "clean technologies" for treating soil, water and waste
• undertakes third-party expertise on dossiers concerning authorized installations
• assists contracting authorities in the rehabilitation of polluted soils
• offers professional training to those responsible for managing polluted sites and participates in the transfer of know-how abroad.

Within about 40 years activities devoted to characterisation and processing of minerals, soil, water, waste and effluents, BRGM has developed methodologies and software to determine:

• - contaminated sites evaluations
• - risk management
• - BRGM is charge of the management the French national inventory of abandoned contaminated sites and of the public dissemination of the information via the database of contaminated sites BASIAS(http://infoterre2.brgm.fr/Basias).
• - BRGM is member of numerous national and international commissions on contaminated land assessment and remediation technologies (i.e. CLARINET, NICOLE networks …). BRGM experts are member of Steering Group for the European research project CLARINET (Contaminated Land Risk Network) where it is particularly concerned with water protection work.